diff --git a/plugins/available/dirs.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/dirs.plugin.bash
index 2c1adf7a..05cf147c 100644
--- a/plugins/available/dirs.plugin.bash
+++ b/plugins/available/dirs.plugin.bash
@@ -58,16 +58,23 @@ function dirs-help() {
 # Add bookmarking functionality
 # Usage:
 
-if [ ! -f ~/.dirs ]; then  # if doesn't exist, create it
-    touch ~/.dirs
+: "${BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS:=${XDG_STATE_HOME:-~/.local/state}/Bash_it/dirs}"
+if [[ -f "${BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS:=${XDG_STATE_HOME:-~/.local/state}/Bash_it/dirs}" ]]
+then
+	source "$BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS"
+elif [[ -f ~/.dirs ]]
+then
+	mv -vn ~/.dirs "$BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS"
+	source "$BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS"
 else
-    source ~/.dirs
+	touch "$BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS"
 fi
 
-alias L='cat ~/.dirs'
+alias L='cat "$BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS"'
 
 # Goes to destination dir, otherwise stay in the dir
-G () {
+function G()
+{
     about 'goes to destination dir'
     param '1: directory'
     example '$ G ..'
@@ -76,7 +83,8 @@ G () {
     cd "${1:-${PWD}}" ;
 }
 
-S () {
+function S ()
+{
     about 'save a bookmark'
     param '1: bookmark name'
     example '$ S mybkmrk'
@@ -84,13 +92,14 @@ S () {
 
     [[ $# -eq 1 ]] || { echo "${FUNCNAME[0]} function requires 1 argument"; return 1; }
 
-    sed "/$@/d" ~/.dirs > ~/.dirs1;
-    \mv ~/.dirs1 ~/.dirs;
-    echo "$@"=\""${PWD}"\" >> ~/.dirs;
-    source ~/.dirs ;
+    sed "/$@/d" "$BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS" > ~/.dirs1;
+    \mv ~/.dirs1 "$BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS";
+    echo "$@"=\""${PWD}"\" >> "$BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS";
+    source "$BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS" ;
 }
 
-R () {
+function R()
+{
     about 'remove a bookmark'
     param '1: bookmark name'
     example '$ R mybkmrk'
@@ -98,10 +107,10 @@ R () {
 
     [[ $# -eq 1 ]] || { echo "${FUNCNAME[0]} function requires 1 argument"; return 1; }
 
-    sed "/$@/d" ~/.dirs > ~/.dirs1;
-    \mv ~/.dirs1 ~/.dirs;
+    sed "/$@/d" "$BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS" > ~/.dirs1;
+    \mv ~/.dirs1 "$BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS";
 }
 
-alias U='source ~/.dirs' 	# Update bookmark stack
+alias U='source "$BASH_IT_DIRS_BKS"' 	# Update bookmark stack
 # Set the Bash option so that no '$' is required when using the above facility
 shopt -s cdable_vars